1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a digital camera and an image processing method.
2. Background Art
There is known a digital camera in which RAW data generated when an image is picked up, and an image generated from the RAW data are stored in a storage medium (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 11-261933, for example). After picking up or capturing an image, the digital camera is capable of generating the image from the RAW data. Another system (a personal computer, for example), which is different from the system that generates the RAW data, is also capable of generating an image from the RAW data and correcting the image. In an environment where the image can be generated from the RAW data after image pickup, a user is allowed to obtain a desired image even after the image was picked up in improper imaging conditions.
It is a common practice that in the digital camera, RAW data and images are stored in a storage medium in a state that attribute data, such as shutter speed, f-number and resolution, are attached to the RAW data and the images. Accordingly, the user may set proper imaging conditions when he/she picks up an image in an environment similar to that where the image was picked up, by referring to the image and the attribute data attached thereto.
When an image that is generated in certain imaging conditions is rendered bright over the entire image, a shutter speed and an f-number attached to the original image do not match tone levels of the retouched output image. Accordingly, in a situation where the user picks up an image in the same environment as that where an image not retouched, or original image, was picked up, while expecting that the same image as the retouched image will be generated, by use of a digital camera that is set at a shutter speed and an f-number, which are attached to the original image, an image captured is not as expected.